Dow Partbooks

The Dow Partbooks (Christ Church, Mus. MSS 984–988) are a collection of five partbooks compiled by Robert Dow in Oxford around 1581–88. The collection includes mostly choral but also some instrumental pieces. At the end is an instrumental La gamba and a canon, both a 3 and apparently copied from Vincenzo Ruffo's book printed in Milan in 1564.

The partbooks are an important source for Tudor music, and the sole known source for some of the pieces. Robert Dow was a trained calligrapher and the books are unusually easy to read among manuscripts of the Tudor period. All works were copied by him, with the exception of numbers 53–4, which were copied by John Baldwin (a singing-man at St George's Chapel), and nos. 99–100, which were copied by an unidentified person. The numberings following no. 54 were added by several other people at a later time (19th century), in sequences that do not coincide perfectly.

The collection was acquired by Henry Aldrich and donated to Christ Church, Oxford as part of his bequest to the college following his death in 1710.[1]

Contents
No.TitleComposerComments
1.Lamentations. Heth. Peccatum peccavitRobert White(Heth, Teth, Iod, Caph, Lamed, Mem)
2.Miserere mei DeusRobert White
3.Christe qui lux es et dies, IRobert White
4.Christe qui lux es et dies, IIRobert White
5.Christe qui lux es et dies, IIIRobert White
6.Manus tuae fecerunt meRobert White
7.Portio mea, DomineRobert White
8.Justus es, DomineRobert White
9a.Ne irascaris, DomineWilliam Byrd
9b.Civitas sancti tuiWilliam ByrdPart 2 of no. 9
10.O Domine, adjuva meWilliam Byrd
11a.Tribulationes civitatumWilliam Byrd
11b.Timor et hebetudoWilliam ByrdPart 2 of no. 11
11c.Nos enim pro peccatisWilliam ByrdPart 3 of no. 11
12.Domine, exaudi orationemWilliam Byrd
13.Domine, praestolamurWilliam Byrd
14.Ad te clamamusChristopher Tye
15.Omnes gentes, plaudite manibusChristopher Tye
16.Esurientes implevit bonisJohn Sheppard
17.Angelus ad pastores aitOrlando di Lasso
18.Veni in hortum meumOrlando di Lasso
19.O salutaris hostiaThomas Tallis
20.Salvator mundi, IThomas Tallis
21.Candidi facti suntThomas Tallis
22.Dum transisset SabbatumRobert Johnson
23.Exaudiat te, DominusRobert White
24.Tribulationem et dolorem inveniAlfonso Ferrabosco
25.Non me vincat, Deus meusNicholas Strogers
26.Dum transisset Sabbatum, IJohn Taverner
27a.Tribulatio proxima estWilliam Byrd
27b.Contumelias et terroresWilliam ByrdPart 2 of no. 27
28.Appropinquet deprecatio meaRobert White
29.Christus resurgensJohn Tailer
30a.O quam gloriosum est regnumWilliam Byrd
30b.Benedictio et claritasWilliam ByrdPart 2 of no. 30
31a.Tristitia et anxietasWilliam Byrd
31b.Sed tu, DomineWilliam ByrdPart 2 of no. 31
32.Apparebit in finemWilliam Byrd
33.Audivi vocem de caeloWilliam Byrd
34.In resurrectione tuaWilliam Byrd
35.Retribue servo tuoRobert Parsons
36.Fac cum servo tuoWilliam Byrd
37.Sive vigilemWilliam Mundy
38.Christe qui lux es et dies, IVRobert White
39a.Deus venerunt gentesWilliam Byrd
39b.Posuerunt morticiniaWilliam ByrdPart 2 of no. 39
40.Domine, tu jurastiWilliam Byrd
41.Exsurge, quare obdormisWilliam Byrd
42.O sacrum conviviumThomas Tallis
43.Salvator mundi, IIThomas Tallis
44.Effuderunt sanguinemWilliam ByrdPart 3 of no. 39
45.Christe qui lux es et diesWilliam Byrd
46.Laetentur caeliWilliam Byrd
47.Facti sumus opprobriumWilliam ByrdPart 4 of no. 39
48.Ave MariaRobert Parsons
49.Dum transisset SabbatumRoose
50.Decantabat populusAnonymous
51.Mirabile mysteriumAlfonso Ferrabosco
52.Miserere mei, DeusWilliam Byrd
53.O bone JesuRobert Parsons
54.Vestigia mea dirigeNathaniel Giles
55.Lord, who shall dwellRobert White
56.The Lord bless us and keep usRobert White
57.O Lord, make thy servant ElizabethWilliam Byrd
58.Prevent us, O LordWilliam Byrd
59.How long shall mine enemiesWilliam Byrd
60.O that most rare breastWilliam Byrd
61.For thee both kingsWilliam ByrdPart 2 of no. 60
62.The doleful debtWilliam ByrdPart 3 of no. 60
63.Come to me, grief, for everWilliam Byrd
64.In fields abroadWilliam Byrd
65.Where fancy fondWilliam Byrd
66.Susanna fairWilliam Byrd(1588)
67.While Phoebus used to dwellWilliam Byrd
68.Why do I use my paper, ink and pen?William Byrd
69.La virginellaWilliam Byrd
70.I joy not in no earthly blissWilliam Byrd
71.Ah, golden hairsWilliam Byrd
72.Lord, in thy wrath reprove me notWilliam Byrd
73.Care for thy soulWilliam Byrd
74.BrowningWilliam Byrd(instrumental)
75.BrowningClement Woodcock(instrumental)
76.MiserereMallorie(instrumental)
77.Ascendo ad PatremJean Maillardattrib. Tye in MS
78.Rubem quemChristopher Tye(instrumental)
79.Susanne un jourOrlando di Lasso
80.Madonna somm'accortoGiacomo Foglianoattrib. Tye in MS
81.Pour vous aymerPhilippe van Wilder
82.De la courtRobert Parsons(instrumental)
83.De la courtRobert Parsons(instrumental), Part 2 of no. 82
84.Je fille quand DieuPhilippe van Wilder
85.In nomineRobert Parsons(instrumental)
86.In nomine, VWilliam Byrd(instrumental)
87.In nomine, INicholas Strogers(instrumental)
88.In nomine, IIINicholas Strogers(instrumental)
89.In nomine, IINicholas Strogers(instrumental)
90.In nomineJohn Bull(instrumental)
91.In nomineRobert White(instrumental)
92.In nomine "Follow me"Christopher Tye(instrumental)
93.In nomine, IClement Woodcock(instrumental)
94.If that a sinner's sighsWilliam Byrd
95.If women could be fairWilliam Byrd
96.Prostrate, O Lord, I lieWilliam Byrd
97.Even from the depth unto the LordWilliam Byrd
98.When I was otherwise than now I amWilliam Byrd
99.In nomine, IBrewster(instrumental)
100.O God, wherefore art thou absentAnonymous
101.When I look backRobert Parsonsin Tenor partbook only (Mus. 986)
102.Come Holy Ghost / In nomineAnonymous
103.O Lord of whom I do depend / In nomineAnonymous
104.O Lord, turn not away thy face / In nomineAnonymous
105.When May is in his primeAnonymous
106.May makes the cheerful hiveAnonymousPart 2 of no. 105
107.All ye that live on earthAnonymousPart 3 of no. 105
108.Ah, alas, you salt sea godsRichard Farrant
109.You gods that guideRichard FarrantPart 2 of no. 108
110.A doleful deadly pangNicholas Strogers
111.My little sweet darlingAnonymous
112.Ah, silly poor JoasAnonymous
113.In terrors trappedAnonymous
114.The saint I serveAnonymous
115.How can the tree but wasteAnonymous
116.Alas, alack, my heart is woeAnonymous
117.Lulla, lullaby, my sweet little babyWilliam Byrd(Refrain)
118.Be still, my blessed babeWilliam Byrd(Verse)
119.O Lord, how vainWilliam Byrd
120.My mind to me a kingdom isWilliam Byrd
121.Who likes to loveWilliam Byrd
122.Enforced by loveRobert Parsons
123.Mistrust not truthAnonymous
124.The day delayedAnonymous
125.Come tread the pathsAnonymous
126.Farewell, my lordsAnonymousPart 2 of no. 125
127.Triumph with pleasant melodyWilliam Byrd
128.What unacquainted cheerful voiceWilliam ByrdPart 2 of no. 127
129.My faults, O ChristWilliam ByrdPart 3 of no. 127
130.Blessed is he that fears the LordWilliam Byrd
131.Blame I confessWilliam Byrd
132.O Lord, within thy tabernacleWilliam Byrd
133.How shall a young manWilliam Byrd
134.Though Amaryllis dance in greenWilliam Byrd
135.La gambaVincenzo Ruffo(instrumental, Mss. 984-6 only) attrib. "Francesco Mocheni" in MS.
136.Trinitas in unitateVincenzo Ruffoin Tenor partbook only (Ms. 987)
137.Hey down, sing ye now after meAnonymousin Bassus partbook only (Ms. 988)
  • N.B. pieces are numbered sequentially in the table above, rather than following the numbering of the MS, which contains some errors and is inconsistent between the partbooks.

References
  1. "GB-Och Mus. 984 (Discantus)". Diamm. 1 October 2018.

Bibliography
  • The Dow Partbooks, Oxford, Christ Church Mus. 984-988: facsimile with introduction by John Milsom (Oxford: DIAMM Publications, 2010)
  • D. Mateer: Oxford, Christ Church Music MSS 984–8; an Index and Commentary, RMARC, no.20 (1986–7), 1–18
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